Etymologically
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colonialism

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 31 October 2026 at 22:49. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • UK: /kəˈləʊ.njə.lɪ.zəm/, /kəˈləʊ.ni.ə.lɪ.zəm/[1]
  • US: /kəˈloʊ.njə.lɪ.zəm/, /kəˈloʊ.ni.ə.lɪ.zəm/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English colonial + -ism.[2][3][4][5] The adjective comes from Latin colōnia (“settlement, colony”) and the suffix -al,[2][3] and the Latin noun from colōnus (“farmer, settler”), from colō (“to cultivate, inhabit”).[3] The OED compares colonialist, recorded slightly later.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The policy or practice of taking political control of another country and settling it: 1791, in a letter of J. Bentham, according to the revised OED.[2] The OED's 1989 edition had dated the word to 1853,[6] Etymonline dates it to 1843, in the sense "ways or speech of colonial persons",[3] and Merriam-Webster gives 1583 as the first known use of its first sense, the quality or state of being colonial.[7]

Semantic evolution

Through the 19th century the word could mean a word or phrase typical of a colony (from 1842, in the Sydney Morning Herald) or a custom peculiar to one (1855–66).[2] The meaning "system of colonial rule" became established later: Etymonline dates it from 1884 and notes that at first it did not necessarily suggest exploitation.[3] The OED also records the attitudes of colonizers, especially a belief in one's own country's superiority and its right to colonize others, from 1856, and those of the colonized, a feeling of inferiority to the mother country, from 1883.[2] The Shorter Oxford notes that the policy sense is now often used disparagingly, of exploitation of weaker peoples.[4]

Timeline

  • 1791 – the policy or practice of acquiring control of another country and settling it.[2]
  • 1842 – a word or phrase characteristic of a colony.[2]
  • 1855 – a custom peculiar to a colony (obsolete by 1866).[2]
  • 1856 – the outlook of colonizers, a belief in their country's right to colonize others.[2]
  • 1883 – the outlook of colonists, a sense of inferiority to the mother country.[2]
  • 1884 – the system of colonial rule, in Etymonline's dating.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The policy or practice of a state acquiring and keeping colonies and controlling other peoples or territories, often with the suggestion of exploitation.[2][7][8][4]
  2. The attitude of colonizers, especially the belief that one's own country is superior and entitled to rule others.[2]
  3. The quality or state of being colonial.[7]
  4. (historical, rare) A word, idiom or custom characteristic of a colony; a provincialism.[2][7]

Word family

  • colonialist
  • colonialistic
  • anticolonialism
  • neocolonialism

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  6. ^ Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  8. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins